Chapter 2

A few hours later after Bella had dropped the bombshell, she was currently, and very ironically, sleeping in Jacob's closet. Not for long, of course; they just had to wait for Billy to check in on Jake like he did every night since Jacob had been born. Bella's only concern was that her stomach's growl might alert the man to her presence. Being Charlie's best friend, Billy would then immediately call Charlie in concern to tell him that Charlie's lesbian daughter was sleeping in his son's closet, even if Bella and Jacob begged him not to.

I really should have packed more snacks, Bella thought grimly to herself as she heard the first squeak of Billy's wheelchair. She pulled her legs to her chest, trying to make herself as small as possible. In Jacob's bed, Jake was doing everything he could not to tense and not seem suspicious as his bedroom door opened.

Shut up shut up shut up Bella told her stomach desperately as her stomach let out a pathetic gurgle. Billy didn't appear to notice anything amiss as he wheeled himself into the room, patting his son's head gently, a loving smile on his face. He wheeled himself to Jake's window, checking to make sure it was locked, before slowly and carefully wheeling himself back out and closing the door quietly behind him. The man did have trouble saying it from time to time, but every action he took showed how much he really loved his kids, and even now, it made Bella's heart squeeze.

Both kids waited even longer, listening to Billy's wheelchair squeak it's way into Billy's room, then the soft thud of Billy closing the door behind him. And still, they continued to wait a little while longer, just in case.

"Finally," Bella whispered to herself as she opened the closet door, a loud growl from her stomach as apparently the damned organ also needed to announce its newfound freedom. She stretched hard, groaning as her body popped in all kinds of places. "This week is going to be torture."

"Maybe you can head over to Charlie's sooner? My closet isn't exactly prime real estate," Jacob mumbled in concern as he pulled off his covers and sat up.

"You're telling me. That shit hole needs at least seven cans of febreze to become tolerable. Do you ever clean your clothes?" Before Jacob could try and protect the strange stench coming from his closet, Bella continued. "No, I don't think I can. If I wait before eight days, they'll probably still be keeping an eye on Charlie's house. They'll know I'm there."

In the hours between the "I can't go to Charlie" thing and Bella ending up in Jacob's closet, Bella had told him only a little more about the situation. Something about getting involved with the wrong group of people. He had tried asking who "they" were but Bella herself didn't seem to know, and didn't even know how she had gotten involved with them in the first place. As far as she had been aware, she had been having a normal day, but after a strange dream she couldn't even really remember, she started noticing strange people showing up wherever she did. Things just escalated from there.

How she knew eight days was how long Bella should wait was another mystery that Bella didn't want to explain. Something about how she had come across that information had apparently fucked her up.

When Bella's stomach let out another rumble in protest, Jacob couldn't help but let out a chuckle as he got up. "Let me go get you some food before your stomach throws a coup."

In seconds, Bella was at his bed, lunging across it to grab her best friend by the back of his collar and drag him backwards.

"Wait, Bells, choking—" Jacob tried to protest, but then he was falling back onto the bed, landing with a grunt. Bella just looked down at him, struggling not to laugh as he glared up at her. "What was that for?"

"Sorry, I just…" Bella put a hand over her mouth, stifling a laugh that nearly escaped. "I couldn't let you take food from your own home. It would make your dad suspicious if all of your food slowly started going missing."

"Oh yeah." Jacob sat up, rubbing his poor abused neck as he thought about what to do. Finally, he just looked up at Bella for answers. "So what are you going to do, Bella? You need to eat." Another rumble from Bella's stomach. "See? Your stomach agrees with me."

"I have a lot of cash. I'm just going to have to sneak out and buy myself what I can." Bella already wasn't looking forward to it, as the nearest store Bella wouldn't be recognized in was quite a long way away.

"Yeah, I guess that is the best option." Jake glanced down at himself, realizing boxers, and only boxers, wasn't the right kind of clothes to go out in. "Give me a sec to get changed and I'll come with."

"No, you stay here." At Bella's words, Jacob immediately froze, looking at Bella with such a wounded expression anyone who saw the expression would think Bella just ate his prized potato right in front of him. Which Bella knew, because she had accidentally cooked and eaten his prized potato a few years back.

"But why? Bells, come on, I don't think it's safe—"

"For Billy to potentially check on his son again, only to find him missing? Yeah, I don't think that's safe either," Bella interrupted, driving home her point immediately. "Your father can't miss someone who doesn't know is here. He can definitely miss his very large son who isn't in his bed."

"Yeah?" Jacob puffed up a little in pride. "I am getting some pretty big muscles, aren't i?

"I'm talking about your belly," Bella said, poking him hard in his stomach. Admittedly, it was pretty solid, but Bella couldn't miss a chance to tease her best friend. "You're getting pretty fat right here."

Jacob put a hand to his heart, devastated. "Damn, Bella. First you kill Pablo, and now you feel the need to murder me?"

"All day every day," Bella quipped in reply. Shrugging on her jacket, Bella unlocked the window and opened it. "Remember; stay here."

"Fine, but keep me updated."

"No can do, I don't have a phone." Bella didn't even look at him as she delivered a shocking answer, and Jake just looked at his friend in disbelief. Bella seemed completely unaware of the way he was staring at her as she slung her backpack over her shoulder, so eventually Jacob had to speak.

"Since when?" Jake demanded, horrified. It took everything he had to remember he was supposed to stay quiet.

"Since I smashed it with a hammer back in Phoenix." With no further explanation, Bella launched herself out into the night. Which meant Jacob didn't have time to remember to warn her.

Jake knew a simple jump like that could hurt Bella. She had done it so many times, hadn't gotten injured by that slightly above average jump since she was eight. That didn't stop him from running to the window, eyes wide and heart hammering with nerves. Just in time to see Bella spring to her feet with a curse; little did she know, but Rachel had planted roses all along that side of the house. Of course, Bella being Bella, she didn't think to check or adjust herself for a wider than usual jump.

"Damn it," Bella hissed, dropping low to the ground. She had made some noise in her brief struggle, and she didn't want to risk anyone glancing out of Jake's house to see what the noise was about.

Thankfully, no one did, and Jacob felt comfortable enough to say "You okay Bells?"

Bella responded by flipping him off, and Jacob grinned. Yup, Bella was fine.

"Dumbass could've warned me," Bella muttered to herself as she looked out into the dark and very dense forest. Before she could chicken out, she started the walk to where she had hidden her motorcycle. She really needed food.

A/N: I know there's not any action going on, and that it's probably a little boring. But in order to hopefully, somehow, some way, make this a good story, it requires a lot of build up. Not just straight jumping into the romance with some of my other stories. Still hope you can find some joy out of this one!